Biden to meet with family of Brittney Griner
President Joe Biden on Friday will meet with the family of WNBA star Brittney Griner. The Associated Press cited White House officials who said Biden will also meet with the family of Paul Whelan, another American citizen who is serving a 16-year prison sentence after his conviction for spying.
A Russian court last month convicted Griner — a Phoenix Mercury center and two-time Olympic gold medalist who is a lesbian and married to her wife, Cherelle Griner — of smuggling drugs into the country and sentenced her to nine years in a penal colony.
Brittney Griner’s lawyers have appealed her sentence. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has publicly acknowledged the U.S. has offered Russia a deal to secure the release of Griner and Whelan.
American officials have reportedly expressed a willingness to release Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who is serving a 25-year prison sentence in the U.S., as part of a prisoner swap.
